


what the heart needs

by pastelrainbow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Black Paladin Keith (Voltron), Drabble, F/M, Fix-It, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, One Shot, POV Lance (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Red Paladin Lance (Voltron), ambiguous ending but its implied lance will get with keith, i love symbolism oops, klance is canon king, season 8 sucked so bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-19 20:29:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17008674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelrainbow/pseuds/pastelrainbow
Summary: There is something even more gentle in his gaze this time, like he can see Lance all the way down to his core, knows him inside and out, and with an soft exhale, Lance supposes he does. Keith looks at him with such an honest and adoring gaze, that Lance doesn’t even want to deny it, not now, not ever again.-Lance realizes who he needs.





	what the heart needs

**Author's Note:**

> hey so season 8 was a nightmare and i'm still devastated at how badly they messed up  
> allura deserved better, and lances future was so wasted and im still in love with klance so im cutting in and im making myself feel better by writing this. its really self indulgent but im gay i do what i want!!! 
> 
> voltron canon sucks but fanon always outsold....

It is then, with the sun dipping low in the sky, honey gold sunshine painting everything in a soft light, that Lance realizes something. The sun is beautiful, but Keith’s eyes are looking at him earnestly, gaze tender and honest, his words stealing the breath from his lungs. 

“That's why we gotta end this war, and we’re gonna do it with the Lance that's the paladin of the red lion, the Lance that’s always got my back. And the Lance who knows, exactly who he is, and what he’s got to offer.”

He feels his skin start to burn, unable to withstand the scorch of Keith’s gentle gaze. No matter what lion he pilots now, Keith will always be fire to him. Bright, passionate, determined. He is every bit of the blaze that the Red Lion commands, he is the sun, and Lance has always been the foolish Icarus. Desperately trying to reach out to him but his wings catching flame and sending him tumbling down into the water below. Keith's gaze has always seared him to his very bone, but right now, the flame is gentle, caring, loving. It fills him to the brim with sunshine. Keith has looked at him this way before, an long time ago, when Lance was barely conscious enough to keep his train of thought, Keith had cradled him in his arms like he was something precious, an soft smile tugging at his lips as Lance uttered words he later denied existed.

There is something even more gentle in his gaze this time, like he can see Lance all the way down to his core, knows him inside and out, and with an soft exhale, Lance supposes he does. Keith looks at him with such an honest and adoring gaze, that Lance doesn’t even want to deny it, not now, not ever again. 

When he leaves, its with reluctance clinging to his limbs, wrapping its tangled threads around him in a desperate attempt to make him stay. He catches the expression on Keith’s face for a few brief seconds before it is hidden away. His eyes are dull, like dying embers, and his mouth is tugging downwards into an frown so miserable it physically pains him, stabs him right in the heart. Keith’s crooked smile might trick anyone else into thinking they saw wrong, but Lance is his right hand man, his stability, his best friend, he knows Keith better than anyone in the entire universe. 

The conclusion he is drawing makes his heart race, his stomach flutter, his palms sweat. Keith looks at him like he’s important, that he’s special. There has always been a small part of him that wanted Keith to want him like this, but along the way it's grown bigger, harder to contain, to lie about, to pretend doesn’t exist. Keith’s words are supposed to encourage him on his date with Allura, but all Lance can think about is the fact that Keith thinks so highly of him, that Keith recognises his strengths, that he looks at him like he’s the sunset.

It punches the air from his lungs and makes his knees tremble.

He loves Allura. She is brilliant, strong, beautiful, stubborn. But-

She is not the only one.

Keith is also brilliant, strong, beautiful, stubborn. They both burn brightly, but its Keith that Lance fell for first, held a torch for the longest, he’s just taken a long time to come to terms with it, to accept it. 

When they were cadets, Keith was like a comet, blazing a brilliant path that Lance couldn’t help but gawk at with wide wonder filled eyes. He had been drawn to him so effortlessly, unable to resist chasing after him, ignoring his instructors words to never follow in his footsteps. He was the first person who ever made Lance feel the longing for someone you can’t reach. Lance had craved the gaze of those dark eyes for years, determined to catch his attention, to pique his interest. He was never successful, and it turned his longing bitter and angry, resentment clogging up his veins as he hid his true feelings under layers of jealousy.

But now, those bitter angry feelings of never being noticed are long gone. Keith’s dark gaze always finds his, softer and more gentle than he could’ve ever imagined. 

He loves Allura, but it is not like this. 

Not like the tugging in in soul, drawing him to Keith every chance it can get. Always vying for his attention, always trying to prove himself, always trying to make him laugh or to smile or to listen to him and to understand him better than he understands himself. Keith was the fire, he was the ice. Keith was red, Lance was blue. They were opposite sides of the same coin, keeping the other in balance, you could never have one without the other. Somewhere along the way they fit together like they were made to be in each others lives. He meant it when he said that he thought Keith was the future.

It is then, that he knows, he can’t do this. He can’t pretend like his feelings for Keith don’t exist, that Allura is who his heart has been aching for this entire time. Everyone knows he wanted Allura, but what they never knew is, all he ever needed was Keith. 

And maybe, just maybe, Keith needs him too.

 

 

“


End file.
